Auger snowblower

ABSTRACT

An auger snowblower having outwardly disposed blowers and horizontally mounted dual augers rotating to move snow outwardly to the blower inlets is disclosed. Rotatable discharge chutes powered by hydraulically actuated cylinders is also disclosed. The dual augers and dual blowers are powered by hydraulic motors connected in series with a unitary hydraulic pump.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention.

This invention relates to an auger snowblower and in particular an augersnowblower having dual discharge chutes in which the blower and augersare powered by hydraulic motors.

2. Discussion of the Technical Problems.

Conventional auger-type snowblowers generally power the auger by the useof belts, chains, pulleys, and direct mechanical drives. Additionally,conventional auger snowblowers are designed so that the snow is augeredtoward a centrally located snowblower which has a discharge chute thatcan be directed from side to side. Unfortunately, auger snowblowers ofthis type are difficult to mount on a vehicle because they requireextensive mechanical connections. Additionally, they do not havesufficient power to force all of the snow through the snowblower whenencountering heavy drifts and wet snow.

Snowblowers having outside mounted multiple blowers are not previouslyknown in that the prior art teaches movement of snow along the augertoward the center where a single snowblower discharges the snow. Bymoving the snow outward in the auger to outside mounted blowers, agreater volume of snow can be moved from the auger and thus dischargedat a higher rate. Ideally, double augers arranged vertically one on topof the other could be powered by two hydraulic motors. The augers wouldmove the snow outward toward a pair of outwardly disposed blowers alsoeach powered by a single hydraulic motor. Each blower is powered by itsown motor.

The use of hydraulic motors to power a snowblower and a snow movingauger is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,052 issued July 5, 1983, to Guy,Jr. The Guy snowblower utilizes hydraulic motors to power the auger andthe blower as well as to rotate the discharge chute. The snowblower ofthat design does not utilize multiple blowers located to the outside ofthe auger and the Guy invention teaches the conventional augerarrangement which transports the snow to the center for introductioninto the snowblower instead of outwardly toward outside-mounted blowers.

Other snowblowers and snowplows with auger arrangements are known.Examples of such blowers and snowplows can be found in U.S. Pat. No.2,719,368 issued Oct. 4, 1955, to Snook, U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,620 issuedApr. 21, 1959, to MacDonald, U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,687 issued July 18,1978, to Jeswine, U.S. Pat. No. 2,103,514 issued Dec. 28, 1937, to Cole,U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,025 issued Mar. 20, 1973, to Orr, and U.S. Pat. No.2,269,326 issued Jan. 6, 1942, to Wandscheer. A multiple snow dischargechute assembly is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,923, issued June 25,1979, to Steiner, et al. and an injection tube assembly for a snowbloweris found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,274 issued Jan. 22, 1980, to Vohl.

Very few devices in the known art relate to multiple snowblowers andnone known are directed to providing dual augers powered by hydraulicmotors which move the snow to the outside where two hydraulicallypowered snowblowers discharge the snow through hydraulically controlleddischarge spouts.

Accordingly, a need exists for a snowblower that would provide a safe,convenient power and snowblowing arrangement that is simple,inexpensive, and could be adapted to connection to a vehicle's hydraulicsystem. An auger snowblower of that type would provide a simple design,be easy to maintain, easily repaired, not subject to damage by properuse, and simple to manufacture. The instant invention is directed to allthose needs as well as to others as explained in the following summary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a feature of the invention to provide a snowblower for removingsnow from roadways, parking lots, driveways, and the like.

It is another feature of the instant invention to provide a snowblowerwhich is powered by hydraulic motors and is conveniently attached to aprime mover such as a pickup truck, automobile, jeep, or the like.

It is another feature of the instant invention to provide an augersnowblower having multiple augers which move the snow toward outwardlydisposed blowers.

These and other features and obtained according to the instant inventionby providing dual auger snowblower for attachment to a motor vehiclehaving closed augers which are powered by hydraulic motors located inthe center of the augers. The augers are mounted one on top of the otherand rotate through bearings. High speed blowers are located at theoutside of the plow. The blowers are powered by hydraulic motors.Discharge chutes, which can be conveniently operated from inside the cabthrough hydraulic means, are also provided for rapid discharge of thesnow. The device adaptes to connection to a vehicle and does not extendforward of the vehicle to any great depth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages of this invention will become apparent upon considerationof the following detailed disclosure of the invention, especially whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the auger snowblower shown attachedto the front of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the auger snowblower depicting theaugers and the discharge chutes in position mounted in front of thevehicle.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the auger snowblower in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a block view of the hydraulic connections showing that asingle pump can control all of the hydraulic motors and cylinders neededfor successful operation of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The auger snowblower apparatus of the instant invention is depictedgenerally in FIG. 1 at numeral 10. As can be seen by reference to FIG.1, the invention 10 provides a snow blower having dual augers 12 and 13which are arranged vertically within auger plow housing 11. Lower auger12 is positioned in front of blower housing 14 and slightly beneath itscenter axis while upper auger 13 is positioned in front of blowerhousing 14 and above the blower axis. As can be seen by reference toFIG. 1, the auger snowblowe 10 of the instant invention is also providedwith discharge chutes 19, blower motor 16, vehicle lower attachment 15,and vehicle upper attachment 18. Vehicle 20 could be any prime mower toinclude a pickup, an automobile, a jeep, or even a riding lawn mower.Hydraulic cylinder 17 is attached between upper vehicle frame 18 andauger snowblower 10 so that by actuation of the hydraulic cylinder 17blower 10 can be raised and lowered as needed.

With reference to FIG. 2, it can be seen that augers 12, 13, 22, and 23are provided such that they rotate upon auger shafts 24 and 26 and theaugers are enclosed rather than bale-type augers. The enclosed augersare arranged so that when rotating any snow would be moved outwardlytoward snowblowers 33 and 34 where it could be discharged throughdischarge chutes 19 and 29. Augers 13 and 23 which are attached to shaft24 are powered by hydraulic motor 27 which is connected in series othydraulic motor 28 rotating shaft 26 to power augers 12 and 22. Withreference to FIG. 2, it can be seen that discharge chutes 19 and 29 areso arranged that they discharge to one side or the other as needed andcan be controlled from inside the vehicle 20.

With reference to FIG. 3, it can be seen that discharge chutes 19 and 29are moved about by hydraulic cylinders 52 and 53 so that the chutes 19and 29 move in a parallel fashion from one side to the other side asoperably selected by the operator. It can also be seen by reference toFIG. 3 that hydraulic motors 46 and 49 power snowblowers 33 and 34.

Now with reference to FIG. 4 where the hydraulic pump and hoseconnections are depicted, it can be seen that from a single hydraulicpump 40 double acting valve 43 is provided to activate hydraulic motors47 and 48 which run auger shafts 24 and 26 to power the augers andhydraulic motors 46 and 49 power the snowblowers 33 and 34 that whenpump 40 is providing hydraulic pressure and valve 43 is in an onposition that motors 46, 47, 48, and 49 are actuated, thus providingpower to the augers and the blowers. Selectible valve 41 is providedwith a three position hydraulic valve to actuate hydraulic liftingcylinder 51 to raise and lower plow 10. cylinder 51 as depicted in FIG.4 is the same as lifting cylinder 17 as depicted in FIG. 1. Additionalvalve 442 is provided with a three-way position so as to selectivelyactuate cylinders 53 and 52 as they are arranged in series to operatedischarge chutes 19 and 26 in a parallel fashion, that is when cylinder52 is in a retracted position, cylinder 53 is in extended position asdepicted in FIG. 4. Conversely, when valve 42 is repositioned, cylinder52 is extended and cylinder 53 is retracted, thus keeping dischragechutes 19 and 26 in proper alignment. As can be noted from FIG. 4, theentire auger snowblower 10 of the invention is powered by a singlehydraulic pump 40 and three valves as well as a release valve 44 andreservoir 45. The controls are quite simple since to actuate all theblowers and the augers, valve 43 only has to be positioned to an onposition with the raising and lowering of the auger snowblower 10 can becontrolled by valve 41 having an up and down position and the control ofthe discharge chute 19 and 26 can be controlled by valve 42 and 42, thusproviding a simple convenient easily adapted selection of operationsthrough the three valves controlling the auger snowblower.

Although specific applications, materials, components, connections,sequences of events, and methods have been stated in the abovedescription of the preferred embodiment of the invention, other suitablematerials, other applications, components and process steps as listedherein may be used with satisfactory results and varying degrees ofquality. In addition, it will be understood that various other changesin details, materials, steps, arrangements of parts and uses which havebeen herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature ofthe invention will occur to and may be made by those skilled in the art,upon a reading of this disclosure, and such changes are intended to beincluded within the principles and scope of this invention ashereinafter claimed.

I claim:
 1. A dual auger snowblower comprising:a frame means adapted forconnection to a prime mover; a housing means; a first lower horizontalrotating auger mounted within said housing means; a second upperhorizontal rotating auger mounted within said housing means; a pair ofsnowblower fans mounted outwardly from the center of said housing meansand attached to said housing means; a pair of discharge chutes attachedto said housing means in pneumatic communication with said dualsnowblower fans; a lifting means attached between said frame means andsaid housing means for lifting said housing means; a lifting meanscomprised of a hydraulic cylinder; said first lower and said secondupper augers are connected in operative association to a first lowerhydraulic motor and a second upper hydraulic motor for turning saidaugers respectively; said first lower hydraulic motor and said secondupper hydraulic motor attached to said augers are attached substantiallymedial along said augers; said dual snowblower fans are each powered bya hydraulic motor in opperative association.